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Endgames Case Review

A patient request for some “deprescribing”

BMJ 2015; 351 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h4023 (Published 03 August 2015) Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h4023

Rapid Response:

Re: A patient request for some “deprescribing”

I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since the age of 18 months. I have struggled with my health and have learned many things in the last 35 years. When I was nineteen, I went an entire year without checking my blood sugar. I ate what I wanted and injected. I am very lucky that despite many years of ignoring my diabetes, I suffer no complications.

Diabetes has become my passion over the last 5 years. On January 4, 2010, the day after my 30th birthday, I made a huge decision. I was 200lb, my diabetes was out of control, and I was taking a myriad of medications for cholesterol, high blood pressure and many other things due to my poor health. I made the decision to make a life change in my eating plan. I found the website of a man who had reversed his type 2 diabetes and had lost 75lb and gained back his health by following a low-carb Paleo/Primal eating plan. I decided to follow suit and the results have been amazing.

After cutting out cutting out grains, sugar, soda, fast food and other processed food, I focused on eating real food-meat, vegetables, eggs, healthy saturated fats, dairy, nuts and occasional berries. I also started exercising at my local gym. The results were astounding. I dropped 55lb, 6 dress sizes, my blood pressure normalized, my cholesterol numbers are phenomenal, I cut my insulin usage in half, my blood sugars normalized, my kidney function is great, my liver function is excellent and every single one of my health markers improved. I no longer catch every illness that is running around. My yearly bout of Pneumonia is no more. My ophthalmologist says he can't even tell that I am a diabetic. My doctor is thrilled with my results.

I also stayed low-carb throughout my last pregnancy and it was a much easier pregnancy than my previous two. My blood sugars were more stable, I gained less weight, my blood pressure stayed in the 110/60 range and I never got swollen fingers and feet as I had with my previous 2 pregnancies. I was also able to drop the weight pretty quickly afterward and successfully nursed my son for 15 months while staying low-carb the entire time.

It has been more than 5 years now and I am the healthiest I have been in my entire life. I have maintained a healthy weight and my current a1c is 4.8 (4.8-5.2 for more than a year now!) This is a permanent way of life for me and I would never go back! I am currently in my 2nd year of nursing school. I'm getting my R.N. so I can become a Certified Diabetes Educator.

A little over a year ago, I was able to participate in starting an awesome new Facebook group with R.D. Dikeman, Derek Raulerson, and Debbie Theriault called TypeOneGrit. It is my absolute privilege to be a part of this amazing community. My blood sugar management has done a complete 180 because of these people.

Competing interests: No competing interests

30 August 2015
Allison M Herschede
RN Student, Associate Diabetes Educator
TypeOneGrit
El Paso, TX 79938